This week has been packed full of culinary adventures, with more tasty curries served up to friends, now I'm getting into the swing of having people round for dinner. But cooking for others is nowhere near as fun as combining our cooking skills and helping to make dinner together. It then becomes more of a social activity, rather than an essential part of eating, and is exactly what we did on Monday.
We set off to make two meals, but in the end, the first one was enough for us - wild mushrooms in a cream sauce, with cous cous. This is the first time I've ever used soya cream in cooking, and I've got to say I was impressed! It deserved a photo, but I'm still without my camera. I would've also liked to post the recipe, but it came out of a German cookbook, and I only got a rough translation! It went something like this:
Roast some cashew nuts
Fry wild mushrooms in oil
In a separate pan, fry some garlic
Make a basil paste with fresh basil, olive oil and water, then add this to the garlic
Add the cooked mushrooms to the basil
Add a carton of soya cream and 1 tbsp english mustard, and simmer till reduced
Season, and serve on cous cous, topped with cashews
It was delicious! Hopefully later this week we'll have a go at the main meal that we were going to do, and this time I'll try and get a proper translation, and some pics.
Okay, here's five things you probably never knew about me:
1. I make computer games for the Xbox 360 and PS3, which is a long way away from where I started out programming, on a graphical calculator in my maths lessons.
2. I have always wanted to move to Japan - their culture fascinates me, although their food does not.
3. I've never been to a hairdresser. (This might change soon though - it really is getting too long).
4. Broccoli and aubergine are amongst my favourite vegetables; okra and bitter melon are my worst.
5. Me and my sister once made experimental ice cubes with milk, marmite and black pepper. They were pretty gross, but apparently not quite bad enough to chuck in the bin - we had to have them in our tea...!
Thanks to DJ (The Skint Vegan) for the tag.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A.F.K
Well, I've had some mega down time in the blogging world, and indeed the internet in general, on account of some extremely inconvenient moving of house. On top of that, I've only got my mobile phone to take photos on at the moment, so my photos don't really do the food justice! I'm going to buy a shiny new Canon G9 to replace my beloved 1 megapixel A10 (RIP!).
So there are my poor excuses for not keeping up to date! I've only cooked a few meals at my new house, but a very welcome addition of a gas stove to the kitchen has put a lot of excitement into cooking with my cast iron pan! I'm convinced food tastes better if cooked on a gas stove.
I've had a pretty busy couple of week, but one particular day was notable in the food department, as one of my good friends made me dinner. Not many non-veggie people know how to cook up something tasty and vegan, and so having friends cook for me is quite a rare experience. I think she did a pretty good job of cooking up a pasta bake - she'd even gone to the trouble of buying some "super melting" vegan cheese to put on top, but as you can imagine, it refused to melt, as is the tradition with pseudo cheese. For dessert, we had strawberries and grapes, with some soy yoghurt, which I think proved that not all vegan alternatives are as bad as soya cheese!
The following day, I returned the favour, and made us a curry. Curry is my speciality - I live on curries!
Curry
1 tsp Whole Coriander Seeds
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
1/2 Red Chilli
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Potato
1/4 inch Ginger, peeled
1 tbsp Garam Masala
5 Brussel Sprouts
1 cup of Broccoli
1/2 Courgette
3 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 tsp Dark Miso
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 Red Bell Pepper
1 cup of Spinach
Small Pinch of salt
Heat up large cast iron pan, and dry roast the coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds for about 2 minutes, until they start releasing their aroma, then transfer seeds to pestle and mortar for a good bashing.
Heat up oil in pan, and add onions and chilli, and cook for 3 minutes, with powdered seeds. Add root vegetables and finely chopped ginger, Garam Masala, and sprouts (quartered). Carry on cooking on a fairly high heat. If it gets a bit dry (which it will) add a 1/2 cup of water, and carry on stirring; as its a cast iron pan, you don't have to worry much about things sticking. If it dries out again, add a few more splashes of water. Continue cooking for 5 mins.
Add the broccoli and courgette, tomato puree and a few more splashes of water if needed, along with the Miso, which should help thicken up the curry. Simmer for another 15 mins, adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Add the peas, spinach and garlic, and season if needed.
Serve and enjoy!
I love how dark this curry gets, all the iron-y goodness going into the food, but you can't taste it. I managed to find some suitable naan bread in the local supermarket to accompany the meal, which turned out to be really nice! I also cooked up a pot of rice, but I'm so used to cooking for one, that I forgot to double the quantity of water...! Oops! I wish I had have got a photo of the smoothie that she made whilst I was doing the curry - it was so green! Spinach, ice, orange juice, tomatoes and cucumber. It tasted healthy :)
So there are my poor excuses for not keeping up to date! I've only cooked a few meals at my new house, but a very welcome addition of a gas stove to the kitchen has put a lot of excitement into cooking with my cast iron pan! I'm convinced food tastes better if cooked on a gas stove.
I've had a pretty busy couple of week, but one particular day was notable in the food department, as one of my good friends made me dinner. Not many non-veggie people know how to cook up something tasty and vegan, and so having friends cook for me is quite a rare experience. I think she did a pretty good job of cooking up a pasta bake - she'd even gone to the trouble of buying some "super melting" vegan cheese to put on top, but as you can imagine, it refused to melt, as is the tradition with pseudo cheese. For dessert, we had strawberries and grapes, with some soy yoghurt, which I think proved that not all vegan alternatives are as bad as soya cheese!
The following day, I returned the favour, and made us a curry. Curry is my speciality - I live on curries!
Curry
1 tsp Whole Coriander Seeds
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
1/2 Red Chilli
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Potato
1/4 inch Ginger, peeled
1 tbsp Garam Masala
5 Brussel Sprouts
1 cup of Broccoli
1/2 Courgette
3 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 tsp Dark Miso
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 Red Bell Pepper
1 cup of Spinach
Small Pinch of salt
Heat up large cast iron pan, and dry roast the coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds for about 2 minutes, until they start releasing their aroma, then transfer seeds to pestle and mortar for a good bashing.
Heat up oil in pan, and add onions and chilli, and cook for 3 minutes, with powdered seeds. Add root vegetables and finely chopped ginger, Garam Masala, and sprouts (quartered). Carry on cooking on a fairly high heat. If it gets a bit dry (which it will) add a 1/2 cup of water, and carry on stirring; as its a cast iron pan, you don't have to worry much about things sticking. If it dries out again, add a few more splashes of water. Continue cooking for 5 mins.
Add the broccoli and courgette, tomato puree and a few more splashes of water if needed, along with the Miso, which should help thicken up the curry. Simmer for another 15 mins, adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Add the peas, spinach and garlic, and season if needed.
Serve and enjoy!
I love how dark this curry gets, all the iron-y goodness going into the food, but you can't taste it. I managed to find some suitable naan bread in the local supermarket to accompany the meal, which turned out to be really nice! I also cooked up a pot of rice, but I'm so used to cooking for one, that I forgot to double the quantity of water...! Oops! I wish I had have got a photo of the smoothie that she made whilst I was doing the curry - it was so green! Spinach, ice, orange juice, tomatoes and cucumber. It tasted healthy :)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Food from the Heart
Spring is almost on the verge of making an appearance. The sun is reaching higher and higher into the sky, with every day that passes, and mornings are no longer met with the dismal grey fog, but the sound of birds going about their daily business. Flowers are peeking their heads above the ground, starting to fill the air with their sweet scent.
I spent a good few hours photosynthesising in the park today. Sat on a park bench, absorbing all that the sun had to offer. I could've stayed there for hours, but alas there was work to do - it was time to focus all my sun-inspired energy into the kitchen.
I had decided to partake in Susan's Vegetable Love challenge. The rules were simple - come up with a recipe for a dish of seductive vegetables. A dish that says "I love you, but I don't want to see you keel over with a heart attack!". A quick bit of research on goggle had led me to a list of food related to valentine's, and so I started to design my dish.
One quick trip to the greengrocers later, and it was time to make Roasted Asparagus, with Fruity Rocket Salad
I served up my vegetables with a healthy portion of quinoa.
Roasted Vegetables with Rocket Salad
For the vegetables:-
10 spears of Asparagus
1 Courgette (Zucchini), sliced lengthways
1 Carrot, sliced lengthways
2 Portobello mushrooms (or field mushrooms), sliced 1cm thick
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Vegan Margarine
2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tsp Dark Soya Sauce
Steam carrot for 5 mins, then add asparagus and steam for a further 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put the mushrooms, courgette and garlic into a large casserole dish, and add the olive oil. Add the steamed vegetables, and mix to make sure everything is covered in oil (add more if necessary), the put the dish into oven, and cook for 15 minutes at 200 C, stirring now and again.
Whilst the vegetables are roasting, make the dressing - simply melt the margarine in a pan, and then add the balsamic vinegar and soya sauce. When finished cooking, and the asparagus is tender and starting to brown, take the casserole dish out of the oven, and pour the dressing on. Return to the oven (now off) and leave until ready to serve.
For the salad:-
3 cups of Rocket
1 cup of Spinach
1/2 cup Raspberries
1/2 cup Strawberries (halved and stem removed)
2 Fresh Figs
1 Avocado, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup Pine Nuts
Juice of an Orange
Wilt the spinach (in the casserole dish for five minutes should do the job). Prepare the avocado. After slicing, pour over the orange juice, so it doesn't start to brown. Once the avocado is coated in juice, drain and reserve the juice. We will use it in the dressing later. Add all the other fruit to the salad bowl. Add the rocket and wilted spinach. Transfer all the roasted vegetables to plates, reserving any liquid at the bottom of the casserole dish. Combine this liquid with the orange juice, then pour over the salad. Toss, and finally sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.
Serve with love.
I spent a good few hours photosynthesising in the park today. Sat on a park bench, absorbing all that the sun had to offer. I could've stayed there for hours, but alas there was work to do - it was time to focus all my sun-inspired energy into the kitchen.
I had decided to partake in Susan's Vegetable Love challenge. The rules were simple - come up with a recipe for a dish of seductive vegetables. A dish that says "I love you, but I don't want to see you keel over with a heart attack!". A quick bit of research on goggle had led me to a list of food related to valentine's, and so I started to design my dish.
One quick trip to the greengrocers later, and it was time to make Roasted Asparagus, with Fruity Rocket Salad
I served up my vegetables with a healthy portion of quinoa.
Roasted Vegetables with Rocket Salad
For the vegetables:-
10 spears of Asparagus
1 Courgette (Zucchini), sliced lengthways
1 Carrot, sliced lengthways
2 Portobello mushrooms (or field mushrooms), sliced 1cm thick
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Vegan Margarine
2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tsp Dark Soya Sauce
Steam carrot for 5 mins, then add asparagus and steam for a further 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put the mushrooms, courgette and garlic into a large casserole dish, and add the olive oil. Add the steamed vegetables, and mix to make sure everything is covered in oil (add more if necessary), the put the dish into oven, and cook for 15 minutes at 200 C, stirring now and again.
Whilst the vegetables are roasting, make the dressing - simply melt the margarine in a pan, and then add the balsamic vinegar and soya sauce. When finished cooking, and the asparagus is tender and starting to brown, take the casserole dish out of the oven, and pour the dressing on. Return to the oven (now off) and leave until ready to serve.
For the salad:-
3 cups of Rocket
1 cup of Spinach
1/2 cup Raspberries
1/2 cup Strawberries (halved and stem removed)
2 Fresh Figs
1 Avocado, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup Pine Nuts
Juice of an Orange
Wilt the spinach (in the casserole dish for five minutes should do the job). Prepare the avocado. After slicing, pour over the orange juice, so it doesn't start to brown. Once the avocado is coated in juice, drain and reserve the juice. We will use it in the dressing later. Add all the other fruit to the salad bowl. Add the rocket and wilted spinach. Transfer all the roasted vegetables to plates, reserving any liquid at the bottom of the casserole dish. Combine this liquid with the orange juice, then pour over the salad. Toss, and finally sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.
Serve with love.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Memories Of A Mango
Wednesday
Its been five days since we were unpacked from our shipping crates. Such a relief to be in the open air again - there was barely enough room to swing a coconut in my crate, and I had to spend the entire trip squashed up against mouldy joe. We're all OK now though, sat in nice neat rows opposite the pineapples and oranges *waves*
Thursday
Still here! I don't know where joe go to though... Bit bored to tell you the truth, I'd much rather be back in the Indies, ripening in the warm sunshine. This England place is cold! brrrrr!
Friday
Its awful! Me and two others were sold today, and taken back to a house, where I witnessed one of the others being flayed alive, and fried with garlic! I tried yelling at the top of my voice, but only my sweet pheromones came out.
Who would do such a thing! I don't know what is to happen to me but I fear the worst!
Saturday
I watched as the cleaver neared me, frozen with terror. The last thing I remember seeing before the blade struck down on me were those little blue faces peering down from a nearby bowl, then I must've blacked out.
Sunday
I awoke today with an odd feeling. Am I still here... wherever here is exactly, I don't even know...!? It sure is dark - is this the fabled melon paradise, where the others told me joe ended up? Not very paradise-y I've got to admit. The only thing I could sense was a feint noise in the distance; the quietest of murmuring that seemed somehow familiar. Could I be imagining things, or was it the sound of my two good friends..?
I thought about it for a moment, then spoke:
hello????
(muffled) hello!? who's there??!
its me!!!!
hey! you made it too!!
Well, you live and learn I guess, its all part of the growing experience.
Its been five days since we were unpacked from our shipping crates. Such a relief to be in the open air again - there was barely enough room to swing a coconut in my crate, and I had to spend the entire trip squashed up against mouldy joe. We're all OK now though, sat in nice neat rows opposite the pineapples and oranges *waves*
Thursday
Still here! I don't know where joe go to though... Bit bored to tell you the truth, I'd much rather be back in the Indies, ripening in the warm sunshine. This England place is cold! brrrrr!
Friday
Its awful! Me and two others were sold today, and taken back to a house, where I witnessed one of the others being flayed alive, and fried with garlic! I tried yelling at the top of my voice, but only my sweet pheromones came out.
Who would do such a thing! I don't know what is to happen to me but I fear the worst!
Saturday
I watched as the cleaver neared me, frozen with terror. The last thing I remember seeing before the blade struck down on me were those little blue faces peering down from a nearby bowl, then I must've blacked out.
Sunday
I awoke today with an odd feeling. Am I still here... wherever here is exactly, I don't even know...!? It sure is dark - is this the fabled melon paradise, where the others told me joe ended up? Not very paradise-y I've got to admit. The only thing I could sense was a feint noise in the distance; the quietest of murmuring that seemed somehow familiar. Could I be imagining things, or was it the sound of my two good friends..?
I thought about it for a moment, then spoke:
hello????
(muffled) hello!? who's there??!
its me!!!!
hey! you made it too!!
Well, you live and learn I guess, its all part of the growing experience.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
London, Baby!
Someone else's birthday is definitely cause for celebration, and a couple of days ago, one such event was brewing down in London. I knew I wanted to bake some sort of sweet treat to take with me, but after my cake shenanigans, I thought it would probably be best to make something I'd made before, something that had turned out good.
Therefore, it was time for another batch of Korova Cookies. This time, I measured out everything with surgical precision, with my new set of spoons. I even used the correct ingredients this time, with no substitutions (except for my carob bits!). The end result was a cookie even more delicious than I thought possible. I had a go at making icing to go on top of these cookies, but I didn't have the right kind of sugar, so it didn't work too well; well enough to stick my chocolate buttons (aptly named "whizzers") to the top.
London is a great place to discover new fooderies, especially around Soho. I took my camera with me with the intention of trying out as many of them as possible, and posting some of the photos here. Unfortunately, every time a bought myself a plate of delicious food, I completely forgot about my camera and all that was on my mind was devouring the food!
Beetroot was first on the agenda. Usually I like to get myself a box of food from here, but I am always too full afterwards for desserts, so on this day, I went straight for the chocolate cake, and a cup of soya chai to wash it down with. The chocolate sauce topping the cake was gorgeous, although the cake itself wasn't as good as I'd hoped, tasting a bit too salty (the now familiar sign of too much chemical leavening).
Chips in the Montague Pike were certainly nothing to write home about, so moving swiftly on to my evening meal, I opted for an all-vegan Tai buffet. This food is about as filling as it gets - for £4 you can pile on the tofu until you can barely move. Bargain. The curry dishes all tasted pretty much the same - there are only so many ways you can dress up tofu and TVP. I've got to admit I'm not even a fan of giant lumps of protein, especially when they have been doused in soya sauce for hours. Too salty for my taste.
Another place I visited during my weekend was Vita Organic. This was a new venue for me, as I didn't even realise it was suitable until I asked, but everything there was delicious - lots of nice chunky vegetable dishes, albeit quite pricey.
I didn't make it to Mildred's, which is a shame, as it was the main one I wanted to try out. I also didn't get time to sample any of the goods at Neil's Yard.
On the cooking front, I've made a couple of dishes in the last week, including an this impromptu curry.
Today I went to a cook shop that I've never seen before, and found myself a nice cast iron pan for a bargain price of only £10! Not bad for a couple of kilos metal. I tried it just now, to make Isa's Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, to go with some spinichey garlicky mashed potatoes, and some fried mushrooms and courgettes. I was expecting everything to taste of rust, but luckily it all tasted fine. It didn't look pretty though, so I didn't bother with a photo!
Therefore, it was time for another batch of Korova Cookies. This time, I measured out everything with surgical precision, with my new set of spoons. I even used the correct ingredients this time, with no substitutions (except for my carob bits!). The end result was a cookie even more delicious than I thought possible. I had a go at making icing to go on top of these cookies, but I didn't have the right kind of sugar, so it didn't work too well; well enough to stick my chocolate buttons (aptly named "whizzers") to the top.
London is a great place to discover new fooderies, especially around Soho. I took my camera with me with the intention of trying out as many of them as possible, and posting some of the photos here. Unfortunately, every time a bought myself a plate of delicious food, I completely forgot about my camera and all that was on my mind was devouring the food!
Beetroot was first on the agenda. Usually I like to get myself a box of food from here, but I am always too full afterwards for desserts, so on this day, I went straight for the chocolate cake, and a cup of soya chai to wash it down with. The chocolate sauce topping the cake was gorgeous, although the cake itself wasn't as good as I'd hoped, tasting a bit too salty (the now familiar sign of too much chemical leavening).
Chips in the Montague Pike were certainly nothing to write home about, so moving swiftly on to my evening meal, I opted for an all-vegan Tai buffet. This food is about as filling as it gets - for £4 you can pile on the tofu until you can barely move. Bargain. The curry dishes all tasted pretty much the same - there are only so many ways you can dress up tofu and TVP. I've got to admit I'm not even a fan of giant lumps of protein, especially when they have been doused in soya sauce for hours. Too salty for my taste.
Another place I visited during my weekend was Vita Organic. This was a new venue for me, as I didn't even realise it was suitable until I asked, but everything there was delicious - lots of nice chunky vegetable dishes, albeit quite pricey.
I didn't make it to Mildred's, which is a shame, as it was the main one I wanted to try out. I also didn't get time to sample any of the goods at Neil's Yard.
On the cooking front, I've made a couple of dishes in the last week, including an this impromptu curry.
Today I went to a cook shop that I've never seen before, and found myself a nice cast iron pan for a bargain price of only £10! Not bad for a couple of kilos metal. I tried it just now, to make Isa's Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, to go with some spinichey garlicky mashed potatoes, and some fried mushrooms and courgettes. I was expecting everything to taste of rust, but luckily it all tasted fine. It didn't look pretty though, so I didn't bother with a photo!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Cake Wars: Attack Of The Cupcake
It was all going so well in the kitchen. Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early, and skipped down to town to buy some veggies from the local grocery store, then happily bounced my way to the bookstore. Browsing through the cookbooks, to my delight, I spotted a single copy of Vegan With A Vengeance - I snapped it up lovingly, and carried on walking gleefully around town.
Flicking through my shiny new cookbook for ideas of things to cook, (and the ingredients I would need to buy), I decided on scrambled tofu for lunch, also then saw the recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake, which sounded so delicious that I would have to make it immediately! So I set off to buy the things I would need.
Scrambled tofu is pretty hard to get wrong. Even frying tofu, mushrooms and onions with a bit of tamari tastes pretty good, so I wasn't surprised that my first dish from the cookbook was quite good.
Afterwards, it was cake time. Flour...measure...soya milk, ok...soya yogurt, check. All was going well. Baking powder...seems like a lot, but ok....check. I filled my cake tin with the mixture. Hmm, seemed pretty full, but it wasn't going anywhere. I proceeded to make the walnut topping....but something was wrong. I had created my breadcrumbs, and was ready to add the walnuts, but the ratio of breadcrumbs to walnuts seemed very wrong. I had almost a full cereal bowl of breadcrumbs, and only a handful of nuts. In the back of my mind, I knew something was definitely amiss, but I carried on, and put the finished cake into the oven.
And waited. 45 minutes later, I came back to my cake, as instructed, toothpick at the ready, but to my horror...
...my cake had grown into a giant muffin!
Reeling from the sight of such a monstrosity, I slowly edged forwards and probed it with my stick. The stick vanished into the cake with no effort at all, and when I pulled it out, some of the doughy cake monster was still attached, topping and all. Radical action had to be taken - I whacked the temperature up as high as it would go, in an attempt to petrify the beast. Another 20 minutes of probing, and finally it was done. The topping was charred and my nice expensive walnuts had been reduced to ash. The ones that had managed to survive the incineration, buried beneath the floury rubble on top of the cake tasted like popcorn.
What had gone wrong? I immediately consulted the PPK forums for answers. It turns out that Americans don't use the same sized spoons as the British. Maybe because we drink so much tea, its more efficient to use a bigger teaspoon, I don't know. And the tablespoons I grew up with were more like serving spoons, akin to a ladle. Either way, I think I must have put waaaaaaay too much baking powder in it, as it tasted kinda salty...
Today, on the top of my list of things to do was to go to the cooking store and buy a new "tool"
Hopefully I will be able to measure out American quantities with confidence now (better stop using my mug to measure out cups as well I guess).
I'd like to say that I'll be getting straight back onto the baking wagon, but first I've got a giant 10 kilo blueberry flavoured cupcake to get through.
Flicking through my shiny new cookbook for ideas of things to cook, (and the ingredients I would need to buy), I decided on scrambled tofu for lunch, also then saw the recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake, which sounded so delicious that I would have to make it immediately! So I set off to buy the things I would need.
Scrambled tofu is pretty hard to get wrong. Even frying tofu, mushrooms and onions with a bit of tamari tastes pretty good, so I wasn't surprised that my first dish from the cookbook was quite good.
Afterwards, it was cake time. Flour...measure...soya milk, ok...soya yogurt, check. All was going well. Baking powder...seems like a lot, but ok....check. I filled my cake tin with the mixture. Hmm, seemed pretty full, but it wasn't going anywhere. I proceeded to make the walnut topping....but something was wrong. I had created my breadcrumbs, and was ready to add the walnuts, but the ratio of breadcrumbs to walnuts seemed very wrong. I had almost a full cereal bowl of breadcrumbs, and only a handful of nuts. In the back of my mind, I knew something was definitely amiss, but I carried on, and put the finished cake into the oven.
And waited. 45 minutes later, I came back to my cake, as instructed, toothpick at the ready, but to my horror...
...my cake had grown into a giant muffin!
Reeling from the sight of such a monstrosity, I slowly edged forwards and probed it with my stick. The stick vanished into the cake with no effort at all, and when I pulled it out, some of the doughy cake monster was still attached, topping and all. Radical action had to be taken - I whacked the temperature up as high as it would go, in an attempt to petrify the beast. Another 20 minutes of probing, and finally it was done. The topping was charred and my nice expensive walnuts had been reduced to ash. The ones that had managed to survive the incineration, buried beneath the floury rubble on top of the cake tasted like popcorn.
What had gone wrong? I immediately consulted the PPK forums for answers. It turns out that Americans don't use the same sized spoons as the British. Maybe because we drink so much tea, its more efficient to use a bigger teaspoon, I don't know. And the tablespoons I grew up with were more like serving spoons, akin to a ladle. Either way, I think I must have put waaaaaaay too much baking powder in it, as it tasted kinda salty...
Today, on the top of my list of things to do was to go to the cooking store and buy a new "tool"
Hopefully I will be able to measure out American quantities with confidence now (better stop using my mug to measure out cups as well I guess).
I'd like to say that I'll be getting straight back onto the baking wagon, but first I've got a giant 10 kilo blueberry flavoured cupcake to get through.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Quinoa, in a Muffin!!!!!
I've been desperate to try out my shiny new recipe ever since it arrived in my inbox! A muffin, made from quinoa?? Sounds like a winner, and the results have previously been shown to look delicious.
First things first though. A quinoay dinner was on the horizon, so I scoured the PPK site for a suitable dish to make. In the end, I settled on Alreda Sauce, so that I could give my new tub of nooch a real test run. After combining the sauce with some quinoa I prepared some potatoes and a pepper for stuffing. After a quick session in the oven, the result was pretty pleasing.
After dinner, it was straight back to the kitchen for the muffins. The first thing I needed was flax powder...All I had was a bag of whole black linseeds and it turns out, linseed is a hard nut to crack. You'd think a cast iron pestle and mortar would make short work of these tiny seeds, but you'd be wrong, (as I was). Almost an hour of hammering it took me to make an impression...eventually, teaspoon at a time, I finally reduced my seeds to dust. I'm fairly sure that a good amount of iron made it into the mix as well - these little guys are as hard as nails.
Making a right meal out of the linseed
All the hard work paid off in the end though, as the muffins were great! I was a little concerned once they had gone into the oven, as the aroma was a very familiar one, which I usually only expect when I'm making a curry, but before long, the sweet cinnamon flavours were filling the kitchen.
Thanks to Ruby Red Vegan for sending me the muffin recipe!
First things first though. A quinoay dinner was on the horizon, so I scoured the PPK site for a suitable dish to make. In the end, I settled on Alreda Sauce, so that I could give my new tub of nooch a real test run. After combining the sauce with some quinoa I prepared some potatoes and a pepper for stuffing. After a quick session in the oven, the result was pretty pleasing.
After dinner, it was straight back to the kitchen for the muffins. The first thing I needed was flax powder...All I had was a bag of whole black linseeds and it turns out, linseed is a hard nut to crack. You'd think a cast iron pestle and mortar would make short work of these tiny seeds, but you'd be wrong, (as I was). Almost an hour of hammering it took me to make an impression...eventually, teaspoon at a time, I finally reduced my seeds to dust. I'm fairly sure that a good amount of iron made it into the mix as well - these little guys are as hard as nails.
Making a right meal out of the linseed
All the hard work paid off in the end though, as the muffins were great! I was a little concerned once they had gone into the oven, as the aroma was a very familiar one, which I usually only expect when I'm making a curry, but before long, the sweet cinnamon flavours were filling the kitchen.
Thanks to Ruby Red Vegan for sending me the muffin recipe!
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